Nutcracker.



. UNK-DED STATES PATENT: onirica.

ANDREW M. CARLSEN, oF sr. PAUL,A MffNNnsoTA, AssIGNoR To' FRANK H. HEINEN, oF

. SHAKQPEE, MINNESOTA.

Specication of Letters Patent. i, Application led September 1, 1911. Serial No. 647,173.

PatehtedJune 25, 1912.

To' al] whom 'it concer/n;v

Be it known that I, ANDREW M. CARLSEN,

` a-f'citizen 'of the United States, residing at St. Paul, `in the county of Ramsey and Stateof Minnestmhave invented a new and useful Nutcracker, of which the f ollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to mt-crackers, and

I themain object is to `provide a nut-cracker with an operating mechanism, of such .construction that the cracking force andpthe stroke of the operating lev'er may be readily changed before and during the operation of the device. Another object is to provide a -nut cracker resembling an' animal whose tail swings'at the natural point where 'a i tail usually swings and to use saiditail as the operating lever Vof the cracker.

illustrated in in which,-

These and other objects-I. attain'yby the novel construction and combination of parts the accompanying drawing,

Figure 1is a side elevation of my vimproved' nut-cracker. 'Fig 2 is an inside side elevation of the right one half of the animal body shown in Fig. 1, and the operating and operated .parts mounted therein.

Fig. 3 is a section oi'thev device as, on the line 'we Fig.' 2. 'v

Referring tol the draw-ing by reference numerals, 1 designates aflat base hollow at the bottom side and adapted to be placed upon a table or' chair when the device is to be used. 4Secured upon said base Vby screws 2 are the' le s 3-1of an animal 4:,

` which is preferably.l ormedY of cast iron or other metal ,and has a tail 5 pivotally mounted at 6 .to swing in a vertlcal plane in the rear end of theb'ody'of the anim-al so as to resemble a natural tai-l.insuchmotion. The animal .mayipreferably resemble a vdog or a lion. The hollow body of the animal' is preferably cast in a right and a left half 4a and 4l" respectively, which are secured together by a screw A7, and arelprevented from turning on thescrew by dowel studs 8 cast ononev half andentering into cavities (not shown) in the other half. The upper jaw or roof of the mouth of the animal isA rigid with the head and is curvedfand con'- caved and formed with corrugations 9,y as best shown in Fig. 2. The lower jaw 10 is also fprovidedwith corrugations or waves as shown. The lower jaw is pivoted at 11 and formed with a downward lever 12, to

whose lower end is pivoted at 13 the front end of a rod` 14, whose rearl endl is pivoted` to the combined tail and lever 5; The latter pivotal connection ,is of a'peculiar form, in that the rod carries a pivot pin 15, which engages in a normally about vertical slot 16 in a Hat portion 5 of the lever.' l

The rear sideA of .the slot is formed with several notches 18, 19 and 20, and in the front side of .the slot is a leaf spring 21,

having one'end secured in anotch at 22. The function ofsaid spring' is to hold-the pin l15 rearwardv and .thereby engaged in either of the'notches 18, 19, 20.` T he rear end of the rod may be forked and have one or two thin Aextensions 23 projected rear-- wardly beyondthe body of the animal close bythe side or'sides of thetail. Said extension may have corrugations 24 or other means for the finger of the operator to engage 1n moving the rear end of the rod with its pivot l5 upward and downward 1n the slotl, so as to thereby increase crm ,decrease the force at the jawsv as may be required forY the different kinds of nuts operated o n, 2'5-isA 'adown-ward projection or rib on. the rod ,14, and 26 .is `an aperture the animal for` reaching said i When said .aprtr v and he ,extensionsl23gniay be 'omittedyand vlcyersa, when the spring and extensions or one.- extenslonl 23 are usedthe- V.aperture 26 may be "dispensed with, but 'nevertheless it is evidently an advantage tol havelall-fof 90.*

mit the ynut betwee'n the jaws, the lever is 10Q then swungdownwardjtth'the result that the nut is cracked; in snclrogieration the le- 'ver or tail may not have torba':@dlhigher than to a horizontal position vas longl as ordinary nuts are operatdfon," but ifV the nuts are ext-'ra hard, the rod'14 is`li`fted-witt1' its pin 15 into the upper part of the'slotl, as high as may be required, either by pressingv upward on the corrugations 24 by a thumb orfinger of folie handjholding theV lever, or 1 10 .by pushing upward with a ingerof dtheV A verage.

n e Y '1,030,805

otherhand through the aperture .26. This raising o'f the rod 14 does' not change the opening between the jaws, which openingis always large enough for all nuts to be cracked, but it enables the lever 5 to be swung almost to vertical position upward, thereby doubling its stroke downward and, thus doubling or greatly increasing the closing force at the jaws, as will readily be understood by all who know the laws of le- When the hard nut or nuts are crackd alight downward pressure atthecorrugations 24 will bring the rod 14 down to its normal position, or if the spring '2lis omitted the rod will by its own weight drop to normal Vposition as soon as released from lthe operators finger, which may support it during operation for a. short period; but

where man hard nuts are to be crackeda device havlng the spring-2l will be preferable. f; What"I,c laim is:- Y, Y 1. A nut-cracker comprising a hollowframe resembling the body ofan animal, the

. same havin in each-'end an opening and ad.-

ljaceit the ront opening a stationaryupper jaw, a movable lower jaw pivotally mounted inthe front endbf the body and having an integrally formed levervhanging downward from it Within the body; an operating lever ivotally mounted in the rear end of the ody to resemble a tail to the animal, and, having a pivot hole, a connecting rodhaving -in one end a' ivot engaging in said pivot hole and. its ot er end pivoted to the lower end of thev lever of the movable jaw; said pivot hole in` the operating lever being slotted vertically, and means arranged'to be j. vin said slotted ho e.

reached by afnger'for raising the connecting rod with its ivot to'any desired point 2.x. A nut-cracker comprising a hollow y frame resembling the body of an animal, the same having in eachNepd an opening and adjacent the front opening a stationary upper jaw, a movable lower jaw pivotally mounted in the front endof the body and having an integrally formed'lever hanging downward from it within the body; an operating lever pivotally mounted in the rear end of the body to resemblel a tail to the animal and having a pivot hole, a connecting rod having frame resembling the body of an animal, the

same havinO in each e'nd an opening and adjacent the Fronti opening a stationary upper jaw, a movable lower jaw pivotally mounted 1n. the front end of the body and having an integrally formed lever hanging downward from it within the body; an operating lever i Eivotally'mounted in the rear end of theody to resemblefa tail to` the animal and having a pivot hole, a connecting rod having in one end aA pivot engaging in said pivot hole and its other end pivoted to the lower end of the lever of the movable jaw, said pivot hole in .the operating lever being slotted vertically and in the rear side provided with one or more notches and meansu for reaching the connecting rod and raising it with the pivot into engaging position with said notch or notches, and a spring arranged to press the pivot in to the notch or notches to support the rod, in raised position.

In testimony whereof I ailix my signature,

in presence of two witnesses.

- ANDREW M. CARLSEN.

Witnesses: l

M. M. CARLSEN, i

E. GABLSEN. 

